Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial Champagne 20cl

Product Information

Beyond these, some sources discuss a selection of even larger champagne bottle sizes including the Solomon, Sovereign, Primat and Melchizedek/Melchior.

But there’s more to it than that. Champagne also gets its name from the grapes used in production, most commonly including pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay at a 2:3 ratio (though variations such as blanc de blancs are made entirely from white grapes). It gets its sparkle from being twice fermented in the bottle via a technical and labour-intensive practice often referred to as méthode traditionnelle. What are the flavours of champagne?

Bottle Size Breakdown

This King of Babylon, who deported the inhabitants of Jerusalem when he took the city, is also famous for the architectural revival he breathed into the Mesopotamian city. Needless to say, such a bottle size is rare. Some merchants have even recently designed even more oversized bottles, such as the Solomon (24 bottles), the Sovereign (35 bottles), the Primat (36 bottles) and the Melchizedek (40 bottles). Impérial Brut is a premium white dry French champagne that comes from the Champagne region. It expresses the richness and diversity of the soil from which the grape grows and remains consistent throughout the years. Keep in mind that some connoisseurs think that the sparkling wine won’t be as good from bigger bottles, losing most of its bubbles during the fermentation. A knowledge of it can go a long way towards developing Champagne vertu, aside from winning bar bets! The CIVC does not include the Réhoboam in its list of sizes, saying it no longer exists for Champagne, though both the OCW [2006] and the UMC do list it.

The name of the greatest, most powerful of all Babylonian kings, who ruled from the late 7th to the middle 6th century BC. In the creation of the Impérial, Chief Winemaker Benoit Gouez will age the wine in the bottle on its side for 18-to-24 months, but this was not always the case for the previous selection for America. Rehoboam is a 4.5-liter (36 flute glasses) champagne bottle, called for the son of King Solomon and grand son of King David, who ruled the Kingdom of Judah in the 10th century BC.

Champagne Leon Launois Brut NV

This is a list of the most frequently used wine bottle sizes and an explanation of each size and shape: A larger Champagne bottle was much better suited for wines like a Bordeaux which is suited to a longer ageing process. It is a given fact that if wine is in a larger bottle of Champagne it will age more slowly. There is also the argument that if a larger Champagne bottle is used the wine could develop more nuances and complexity than if a standard bottle is used. The logic behind this is due to the reduced amount of air that is found between the wine and the cork.

Both the CIVC and the UMC deny the existence of the Melchior. The CIVC says ‘the Melchior was never used in Champagne. There is no record in the known archives.’ The OCW says the Melchior is 18 litres /24 bottles (the size of the Solomon, here), but does not specify this size for Champagne, so the 18 litre /24 bottle Melchior could yet be a correct size/name for a different region. But it’s clear there is no Melchior in Champagne. When looking for champagne specifically, you’ll usually be choosing between cuvée, brut or rosé champagne. Though the latter is somewhat self-explanatory, cuvée is referring to the first pressed or most desirable grape juice in the production and can often denote higher quality. Brut is more common in sparkling wines and contains less residual sugar. How should champagne be served?

Fortnum & Mason’s Brut Réserve Champagne

Sally Easton, Master of Wine, does a great job of highlighting some of these inconsistencies on her blog WineWisdom in the notes following her own table: